From The Stars To You
by Lawliet Veneziano
Summary: In the summer before his sophomore year Billy Cranston watches a meteor shower and sees something amazing that threatens to change his life forever. Will the self-proclaimed most useless member of the Power Rangers be brought salvation or ruin by this new force in his life? Is the girl an angel from the stars or a monster sent to destroy him and his friends?
1. A Beginning

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Shooting stars were not actually stars; not a lot of people actually knew this, not normally and especially not among teenagers but it was true. It didn't mean that they were any less beautiful of course, those streaking entities from above, making their way across the night sky as they fell to earth; even to a scientific mind like Billy Cranston's they were beautiful, fleeting as they were. Yet he could not separate from his logical mind and see them as only beautiful; to him he saw the streaks of light, symbolizing the dust burning as the tiny meteoroids tried their damnedest to make it through the earth's atmosphere, and he saw in his head the various calculations, statistics and theories and laws that governed their movement, their chances of survival, the starting possibilities for them to even end up being the ones to fall through the skies. He saw the information in his mind of what they were, what composed them, what made them fall, and part of him recognized that this was somewhat wrong. He was weird really, wasn't he? Dorky, always speaking in 'technospeak', not as great as his friends, not as impressive; not an athlete, not a real fighter, he did wonder sometimes if he even was a real Power Ranger, but he supposed he was useful. He made the communicators after all didn't he, and he fixed the command center's systems when Tommy had broken them as the Green Ranger, and he made the Radbug and...honestly he wasn't sure if he was much use outside of the technology stuff at times./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But most of all he was just strange, the quintessential strange nerd; sitting outside in the woods near Angel Grove, the young man was up far later than any teenager should be, watching from where he was as the annual Perseid meteor shower shone in the sky. The year before had been quite the sight, one that Billy had been careful not to miss, even with him starting high school in less than a month back then; now he was going into his sophomore year and things were already looking busy. Yet here he was, sitting and watching the sky, enjoying a quiet little night far from the city and the lights, allowing him to watch the sky and see all the "shooting stars". And it was as beautiful as it had been then as well./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He checked through the telescope he had brought with him, and was glad for the thousandth time that he had convinced his father to buy him the parts he needed to modify it to work like a proper one instead of some kid's toy like it had been, and was writing down various things, mostly numbers on the amount of meteoroids there seemed to be and their rate of falling, when he noticed something; a particularly bright one. He smiled to himself, thinking perhaps it would survive the fall and become a true meteorite, and pulled away from the telescope to watch it, knowing that ultimately it was better to watch the storm with just his eyes; the light stream flashed and flew across the sky and it took him a moment to notice that it was not only bright but seemed to be relatively close. As in very close. As in coming right towards the woods!/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eyes widening from behind his glasses he tried to calculate where it would land just as it flew above him and into the trees, followed soon by a loud explosion and a blast of light; he fell back some and onto the ground, staring for a good minute or two before getting up onto his feet. He supposed the thing to do that normal people would do was run to find someone to tell, and his father or any other adult may tell him that it was too dangerous to look into on his own. But Billy was not normal nor was he afraid, anymore, of such things; he picked himself up, dusted off his overalls, and rushed into the forest towards the landing site./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was unsurprisingly quite a bit of damage done when the meteor had blasted through; as Billy made his way towards it he found trees burned and split, the earth scorched as the path got closer and closer to the ground and he realized how lucky he had been to have sat where he had because this damage was impressive by any stretch of the imagination and had been actually pretty close to where the teenager had been sitting. Any closer and, well, Zordon might have needed to find himself a new Blue Ranger... Still he was fascinated by this as well and made a mental note to investigate further what elements caused this amount of effect before finally coming across what he had been searching for. He was startled by what he found./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Meteorites were rocks, or normally were; stone and iron, one or both, that was how it normally was. And they were usually completely solid, though sometimes there were pieces everywhere. There was one piece but he wasn't sure if the word for it was solid; a strange sort of glow enveloped it, perhaps caused by the heat of making its way through the atmosphere and down to the earth. Still below the glow he could see black, strange blackness that at first made him question his eyesight but as it actually moved and shifted gave him cause to believe that, odd as it was, the blackness was actually feathers. Many black feathers, attached to what appeared to be wings of all things; by the way the feathers seem to be the wings were obviously massive, making him wonder what kind of beast it was. An alien creature from another world at least, he knew that much, and one that was capable of traveling with simply their wings wrapped around them to keep them safe. Or perhaps, and this made him frown, a monster of Rita's? That thought made his blood cold and he reached carefully for his morpher, always with him, as the wings unfurled, revealing the person within./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"At first he was not sure but after a moment he realized that it really was what he saw; a girl, roughly his age, lay unconscious under the moved wing. Long black hair covered her face, hiding it from view for the most part but from what he could see she wore glasses like him, a strange thing for an alien or a monster. The girl wore what looked to be strangely enough a school uniform of some sort, a black blazer and long skirt, white shirt with a tie under the blazer, but the school emblem seemed to have been burned off by something and was left unrecognizable. He could make out where the wings left her shoulders, the clothing ripped and teared away there and he got the feeling that the wings had not been expected when they had initially sprouted; it just rose more questions, creating a maelstrom of thoughts and theories that went nowhere because honestly he just didn't know. He did not think she was a monster, he meant she didn't look like most of Rita's monsters that were obviously so monsters and not human beings, then again the clown had looked pretty human before turning into a giant penoctopus... but still he did not get the feeling she was evil, not like that at least. But what it was she was escaped him; he found himself going closer and leaning down, reaching out with one hand and gently touching her face through the veil of hair, feeling for a second how soft it was./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was only for a second though; just as his fingers made contact the wings stretched out and her eyes snapped open, revealing crimson irises. Billy frowned and nearly screamed, though he bit it back as he fell back and the girl rose up in the air with a flap of her wings; he saw her backlit against the sky and for a second a few more shooting stars shot by behind her, making her look all the more impressive until suddenly she fell again. This time though she didn't hit the ground; moving quickly Billy got under her, holding out his arms for her. In any other situation, it might have looked like a dream, a fantasy; the girl falling into the boy's arm, the boy catching her and cradling her gently in his arms, and for a moment in time they simply stayed like that, staring at one another, blue into red. Then color started to flood his face, realizing what he was even doing, and his glasses slipped down as he started to speak, "I-I-I m-must beg p-pardon for th-th-this rather vexatious p-predicament w-w-we have-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you," she said cutting him off and he blinked at her some more, continuing to do so as she raised one hand to gently press up his glasses then do the same with her own; moving though seemed to cause some sort of pain though for she winced and drew in on herself, her wings ruffling against his skin./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It did confuse him for a time but then he noticed his arm feeling odd and he gently set her down before glancing over one of her wings; it was hard to notice among the dark feathers but further inspection, after coaxing her to unfold the wing again when she folded them back towards her body at his touch, he could see blood, fresh still pouring blood. She was injured, which was likely why she had winced when moving and why she had fallen after flying up; he couldn't be too sure what might have caused it, the extent or even how to deal with it until he got a better look though and preferably somewhere safe. He realized that someone else had to have noticed, Zordon at least, and though his communicator did not go off, he knew he better get moving and quick./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But where? The Command Center was only accessible and capable to be entered by those with a power coin and though he had one, she did not, meaning it was out of the question for now. One of his friend's houses, perhaps one of the girls? But this was sure to look weird and he still didn't know for sure she was or wasn't one of Rita's; if he took her to Kimberly's or Trini's the girls would get involved and maybe hurt. Plus he could tell them in the morning, it was the middle of the night after all, he would have to wake them and their parents up and that would not be nice or fun. It could wait, telling his friends, until morning, but helping her and perhaps tending to the wound could not./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So that left his house for now; not ideal but when he thought on it, with his father out of town again for a conference, the only one who would mind her being there was himself. He could look her over in his garage, let her sleep and recover in one of the guest rooms, tell the others tomorrow, and then deal with whatever comes then. Yes, that sounded like a good idea; he just had to hope Zordon would not tell the others before he had a chance. It would look bad he was sure otherwise./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He leaned down to her, trying to smile at her as she looked at him expectedly and cautiously; he spoke, "I wish to take a chance to better inspect the disturbance upon your rather peculiar avian appendage and review if any other marring has occurred and perhaps tend to them. To do so though I would require your attendance at my house where I can better examine and apply proper assistance."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Only after all these words left him did it cross his mind that perhaps she would not understand; not many always did except for his friend Trini who always seemed to understand. For her part the odd girl simply blinked at him, not responding or speaking for a moment. He was about to repeat himself, try to make it more clear, but she nodded and reached out a hand to him so he could help her back up from where he set her down. He did so, assisting her in getting to her feet and catching her when they nearly gave out, the pain from her wing obviously causing her difficulty in maintaining her own equilibrium./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I would like that, some help I mean," she responded and Billy could not help the smile that crossed his face before he led her back to where his telescope was; he easily packed it up, readying to go back home before looking back at her, seeing her lean against a tree. He was not sure if she could make it back as she was right now; frowning lightly he leaned down, back to her, "Climb on."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She blinked at him again and he explained, "I can transport you via my back so that we can more swiftly make our way back to my domicile. It will reduce strain on your body and be more time efficient I am certain."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once more the girl nodded and making her way over she climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck; Billy could feel her heart beating as he stood back up with the extra weight behind him and the telescope in it's carrying case slung over a shoulder, and caught himself thinking how Rita's monsters didn't have hearts, couldn't have hearts for they were monsters. He started off with his new subject, walking through the woods and trying to take the least visible path back so that the least amount of people would see him walking home with a girl with wings on his back; it was when he reached the street, empty of life and car, that it occurred to him to inquire to her "May I ask your name?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was, as often it seemed to be with her, no answer at first then her arms tightened a bit and she spoke in a soft murmur, "I think...it's Tsuki..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tsuki," Billy repeated, mulling it over, then frowning lightly, "You think?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't remember," she muttered and buried her face in his neck, making the shy nerd blush all the more, "But I think my name is Tsuki at least. You can call me Tsuki, um..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Billy," he said to her, "My name is Billy Cranston...well William but everyone calls me Billy."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wondered for a second if that sounded childish, Billy, but he felt her smile against his skin and her tone denoted nothing sort of a sneaking pleasure. "Billy...I like that name. Nice to meet you Billy."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nice to meet you too Tsuki." A smile crossed his face and he continued to walk onward to his house thinking once more on monsters; monsters did not like names he figured, or smile like she had. He still did not know what she was but he found himself doubting more and more that she could possibly be a monster./p 


	2. Making of New Friends

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Billy was glad to know he was indeed unbothered on the way home; the streets were clear, the houses dark, and the few people actually up were more focused on themselves than the boy wandering alone in the shadows. He was barely an afterthought and the girl he carried on his back, strange as she was, was all but invisible to them. So the high schooler found his home easily and managed to slip in through the front door without incident or fear./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Most of the time, Billy preferred to go through the garage; it was his area, his place, and he found it easiest to move from the familiar lab inside. It was a matter of odd comforts and habits really, but in this instance unnecessary and potentially problematic. Tsuki's injury, and any other he may of yet just not found, demanded quickness not dawdling, and though it may be comfort to him, it was a longer walk to the guest room from the garage than the front door. In addition was once more the fact that for the time being he was home alone; his father, brilliant and more importantly busy as he was, was off at a conference for work and not expected home for another week or so at least. As for his mother...br /Either way he was on his own, something he certainly did not mind and actually looked forward to for freedom; especially in this situation he was glad for the lack of parental interference, allowing him to be able to bring the girl home without need for questions./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Getting her through the door did prove a bit problematic, her wings being larger than the width of his door; listening to her let out a soft cry of pain she did manage to pull them in enough to get inside but he found himself feeling bad for it. He did not wish her more pain after all, he wanted to help her not hurt her; he made his way down the front hallway, ignoring for now the blinking message machine on the hall table, no doubt waiting with a message for him from his father, and slipped into the guest /It wasn't much; the Cranston household rarely had visitors who stayed the night, not lately at least. There was a bed of course, made up still from the last time, and a nightstand, a bookshelf with the excess books from both Cranston males' respective collections stuffed into it; a secondary computer for when Billy's shut down was laying in wait on a desk in the corner and the closet was closed and as far as Billy was concerned not to be opened. He set her down on the bed and gave her an attempted reassuring smile, though it just came out awkward and shy as usual. "I will return posthaste; I must retrieve the first aid kit from the other room."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tsuki blinked and nodded, speaking a soft "Okay" before Billy left the room. He swiftly made his way back towards the living room, and through it into the kitchen and laundry room, ultimately into his garage finally. There the first aid kit was, as usual since Billy had no delusions of the dangers of some of the things he experimented with, next to the remote control for the Radbug and a disassembled communicator he had taken from Jason when the other boy had mentioned concerns with its malfunctioning. Billy still needed to fix that later; for now though there were more important things and he grabbed the kit and made his way out of the room once more. It took him a moment to get back to the guest room but he was happy to find her waiting there still, unmoved from where she had been set down on the bed. She looked around her, seeming curious about it when he came in; then her attention was on him and he found himself taken a bit back when she stared at him. Maybe it was just that he wasn't used to it, having someone who wasn't one of his close friends or father being in the house like this, even the kids he tutored usually stuck to the garage as that was where the things of most interest were. A stranger, a non-Kim or non-Trini girl, this was really odd for Billy; hell even Marge had not been in his house before their inevitable parting./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It occurred to him that none of this was especially important right now though and he shook his head some, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him before he walked up her and leaned down, setting the first aid kit on the bed beside Tsuki. He opened it up and spoke as he did so, "It would be most advisable and of great assistance to my cause if you would find it agreeable to elongate both your injured and uninjured appendages."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She nodded and winced as she allowed her wings to stretch out; the full wing length was rather breathtaking really. Billy mentally brought up facts and figures in his head, thinking about how in order to carry a human body wings would need to be rather big, needing to have the extra length and muscle simply to lift them as well to fly. But seeing them in reality, when the idea it could be reality had never occurred to him, was strange and awe-inspiring; in all honesty the room was not even big enough for both of them, the sheer length of one equaling out to the length of her whole body and even small as she was, barely five foot three, that still equaled out to more than ten feet. He asked her to pull one back in, the one that did not seem as injured, and watched as she did so, amazed still by the amount of control she seemed to have over them; he wondered if it came by instinct or experience. Did she know how to do this from birth, from the moment they sprouted, or did she have to learn? The answer he was sure either way would be fascinating but soon found reality crash down on him as he remembered: she did not remember who she was. Or she seemed to; who knew if she had been speaking the truth, if she was just pretending. He still did not know if she was or wasn't a monster, what she was; of course the wings thing did bring to mind that of course she could not be human, or a normal one at that. Even if she was there was the factors running through his head, the thoughts of what would make her body capable of flight, more than the wings, and then he wondered how strong her wings were to survive the impact, the fall, everything. What was she and why was she here? Enemy or potential friend?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Billy?" He did not realize he was lost in thought, or that he was simply caressing her wing, staring at the feathers as his mind ran through possibilities and numbers and all the things it had since telling her to pull in her wing. He shook his head and looked at her, seeing a confused look on her face, and he smiled some./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sorry," Billy spoke, to which she nodded, and he set upon his task, why she was here; gently he moved the feathers, trying not to focus too much on how soft they felt, and found the skin below. Closer examination told him that there was a large puncture, like something had stabbed her or she had been shot. There was no sign of any projectile and the wound seemed odd, burnt around the edges; touching it made her wing shudder and her to recoil and he stepped back as she frowned and tried to pull away. He stared at her and spoke quickly, "No, no, it's okay, I apologize profusely, do not be frightened or pull away; I promise to be more judicious in my actions, I promise."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tsuki frowned at him and looked at him cautiously and Billy stared back at her, hoping she believed him, hoping she would let him try again; after a moment of nothing she allowed her wing out again and he took care this time to be more gentle. It occurred to him that any bird would be quite sensitive about their wings being injured and the amount of nerve endings in there would make it necessary to be more mindful than usual of touch; he was much more careful this time./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Opening the first aid kit he took out what he needed; he frowned slightly. "I'm going to cleanse the puncture; this will most likely be uncomfortable but it is for the betterment of your condition and will likely fade with some time."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tsuki seemed less than thrilled but nodded, closing her eyes and biting her lip; he cleaned the wound and her wing straightened in pain, Tsuki biting back a whimper. He frowned but continued what he was doing, making sure to clean away all the blood as well as make sure it would be able to heal properly. Afterwards he started actually dressing the wound; part of him wondered what would be the better method in which to do this. On one hand a simple bandage patch should be able to do the trick but the wound did seem to go all the way though and an actual wrapping of the wing would likely be a quicker and more effective way to go about it; of course he could not be sure of the state that would leave her feathers as it would likely also cause quite a few to become misaligned, of the most important being her flight feathers. Ultimately it could also cause her pain./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But the choice was hers and he supposed best to ask than to guess, "Do you think a bandage will do or should I wrap your wing?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wrap," she said with little hesitation and he waited for her explanation; she looked to him, "The wound is unlikely to harm or bother my feathers as it is above secondary not primary feathers; the secondary feathers will not be bothered by some careful wrapping."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The matter-of-fact way she said it, yet not entirely simply so, made him smile; he liked it he found and he nodded before grabbing the wrapping gauze. A bit awkwardly he placed a patch on either side of the wound and started wrapping the gauze around, trying to hold the bandages in place as he did. He tried to also avoid ruffling up too many feathers the wrong way and one or other of the patches always seemed intent on falling. He frowned and refused to give up, continuing to try until another hand reached up to hold the patch he wasn't and someone spoke, "Here, let me help."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Billy looked at Tsuki and she smiled at him; it was light, almost not there, but it made him smile too and he nodded before continuing. It was easier with both working together to do this and within a few minutes the wing was wrapped; to say it was properly so or even perfectly, or looked nice, would be stretching it a bit but it was functional and seemed to not be obstructing important feathers so Billy choose to call it a success./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Good," he said smiling, "It looks adequately tended to."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, thank you," she said looking at the finished product and stretched her wing some, "It will be hard to fold my wing though."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It would be inadvisable to do so; to ensure quick and complete recovery it would be best to allow the wing to rest in it's extended state. It holds a higher percentage of not disturbing the bandages as well as not aggravating the injury as it is now."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You are very strange you know that?" She said and Billy frowned, feeling a bit hurt by that, yet the look she gave wasn't mean or suspecting; she still smiled that light smile and she continued, "But so am I I reckon, wings and all. I rather like your oddness, it's cute."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cute?" Billy repeated feeling a bit like a parrot. But it wasn't often people told him he was cute, not to mention that something he did like his speech patterns were. He barely thought of himself as anything but a bookworm, the intellectual of the Power Rangers who apparently people liked. His self confidence was better than it once had been but largely Billy was Billy and so not really "cute"./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She nodded and he blushed, rubbing his head, "Um, thank you I suppose? I like your wings, they're very beautiful."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you Billy,"Tsuki said with a blush of her own./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"For a moment then both were quiet but a light growl broke that. Billy realized he hadn't eaten in hours, his excitement in scientific endeavor having made him forget, as it often did, to eat something before going out to look at the meteor shower. As well, his brain proceeded to remind him now, his guest might be hungry as well and some energy would help her recover quicker. With that he spoke once more, "I'll go get us some food if that would be acceptable."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another blink and another nod preceded his getting up, gathering up the first aid supplies and making his way out of the room. As such his first stop was to put the kit away, for now; he'd need to continue treatment later of course but not tonight. For now he just needed to get them both something to eat./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It wasn't until he walked into the kitchen, after setting everything away, that it occurred to him how late it really was. The clock hanging on the wall read two in the morning, a not unusual time for the young scientist to be awake but certainly still not terribly good for a growing mind. Sleep was probably best but his stomach still growled and food it struck him was also important to someone still growing. He grabbed some stuff from the refrigerator and pantry, figuring sandwiches their best option for something quick and easy as an after midnight snack. Plus he could make such without much fear of messing it up; a master chef he was not. Chemicals and technology, science was his forte, not making delicious food./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The resulting sandwiches, two each for him and Tsuki, didn't look half bad though simple. He hoped she liked ham and cheese with mayonnaise; carrying the four on two plates he made his way back to the guest room, his stomach continuing to complain about wanting to eat now. He couldn't do that though, not without her; it would be rude after all./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tsuki?" He called put as he walked into the room, pushing the door open with his arm since his hands were full, "I brought food."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"No response and he was worried for a moment before looking over at the bed. Tsuki was still there but curled up slightly on one side, her injured wing draped over her like a blanket of sorts; her face was hidden again by a curtain of hair but something told him, the gentle movements of her body perhaps, the fact she didn't respond, that her eyes were closed and she was fast asleep./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled a bit though it meant she wouldn't get to try out the sandwiches he made. Walking over Billy set the plates on a portion of the bed not occupied by her and then gently and brushed back some of her hair. She didn't respond like before, staying peacefully at sleep, and he wondered if she felt safe here or simply was just not in as much pain or that deeply asleep; either way he was glad because her trying to fly in the room would end very badly. He removed her glasses carefully and set them down on the nightstand within arms reach, not wanting her to damage them but hopefully making it easy to find them again when she wakes. Then he sat on the floor, back against the bed; a light sigh left him, along with a surprising amount of exhaustion. Billy grabbed one of the plates and started to eat a sandwich. Everything was silent for the moment and though Billy knew come morning he'd need to talk to his friends about this whole ordeal, a peace came over him. It would all be alright, he could just feel it./p 


	3. A Mistake in the Present

Billy did not remember falling asleep but he did remember the sound of beeping permeating into his dreams and waking up to a whole lot of feathers in his face. He was still on the ground, leaned over the bed, and both plates that once held sandwiches just out of arms length. Trying to move to get up he felt more feathers brush against him and realized after a moment's thought that yes Tsuki had wrapped her uninjured wing around him at some point, giving him a feathery blanket. Also she was indeed real; the winged girl was still fast asleep on the bed and when he got free of her offered appendage it pulled back to her body, folding in again and she made a soft whining noise. Still she slept and he almost smiled at at the sight of her there.

But then his communicator went off again and Billy nearly jumped, startled by it; putting a hand over it as if to muffle its sound, he made his way out of the room and into the living room. Then he answered, "Yes?"

"Billy?" The voice sounded like Trini but Billy had to wonder what was the reason for this call; she continued, "Oh god we were so worried. We thought something might have happened to you."

Billy frowned a bit. "Why is that?"

"You're not here yet, that's why," she said and she seemed to be chuckling, "Hurry up; we're waiting for you at the park."

It hit him him then why; he'd had plans, with Trini and his friends of course. It would seem, looking at the nearest clock, that last night's fiasco had caused him to oversleep and it was now well past noon. Somehow he felt more than a little relieved and with a smile he spoke, "Alright I will be there as soon as I can be. I apologize."

"Don't worry about it, we were just worried." With that communication was cut off; Billy sighed in relief and went to his room to grab some clean clothes; the idea he should probably take a shower crossed his mind and he looked into the guest room. Tsuki was still asleep it seemed and he realized he might want to tell her where he was going. And that he needs to tell the others about it; it was the right thing to do, it was his duty probably as a Power Ranger to alert them to weird events and strange people. What if she was one of Rita's?

Yet why did it make him uncomfortable to think of telling the others of her? He walked into his room and looked through his clothes for something to wear as he thought about it. It wasn't like he was especially attached to her, he just met her, and he still had no idea what she was; telling the others was the smart thing, the right thing. He was supposed to do the smart thing right, being the smart one. But he didn't feel right about it for some reason; he reasoned that perhaps it was because she was hurt. Even if she was one of Rita's monsters, she couldn't do much while injured and it would be cruel to try to destroy her or bother her while she's recovering. Even if this would be the easiest time to do it, when she was least likely to be able to fight back.

"A Power Ranger doesn't do that," he spoke aloud and grabbed a t-shirt and overalls, "Its not honorable, hitting an enemy while down..."

Maybe he should wait a bit longer, until he knows more about her. Let her recover, let him do some tests, it would be better in the long run. Then even if she did prove to be a danger they would know what kind and how to deal with her properly. But Billy doubted still, refused really, to think she could really be dangerous to them; she didn't even know who she was right now and she was injured. What could she do to them right now, flap her other wing at them?

Billy walked back to the guest room, checking in to see her still fast asleep; though he'd rather tell her in person he supposed he could settle for leaving a note for her. He walked in, quietly, and grabbing a pencil and paper he left her quick little explanation of where he was and that he'll be back as soon as he could and not to leave the house. Not that he thought she would but better safe than sorry he supposed. He then left it on the desk in the room and spared one last look to her, finding himself unable to resist a light smile before slipping away and leaving for the park. His friends were waiting for him after all.

By the time the genius blue ranger arrived his friends seemed to be in the middle of a game; it was a lovely day, the sun high in the sky and not a cloud in the sky but not insanely hot as it could be in California. A game of Frisbee seemed to going on and as of yet he seemed to have gone unnoticed; this was not terribly uncommon. Though he was rarely late Billy knew that when everyone was caught up in something they could be a bit blind to everything else around them.

"Hey!" He called out with a smile and waved a hand; Trini was the one to turn to him first, quickly followed by the other members of his inner circle.

The Frisbee came his way and he ran for it, trying and succeeding in catching it; the other five Rangers ran over to him.

"There you are, Billy," Jason the red ranger and leader said, a friendly smile filling his handsome face.

"We were worried about you," commented the black ranger Zack, coming over and smacking Billy's back gently with his usual jovialness.

"You're not usually late," Kimberly spoke, the pink ranger and just the type to worry over her friends.

"Not without telling us first normally," Trini said smiling lightly; of the group the yellow ranger was probably Billy's best friend, able to understand his techno speak with ease.

"So what happened?" The last voice and question belonged to the last and newest ranger and Billy found his attention turned on the tall form of Tommy Oliver, the formerly-evil green ranger. The boy was smiling too, trying to be friendly and Billy smiled too through it was slightly strained.

"I was caught up in the meteor shower last night and found myself delayed by recording my observations and one of my experiments," Billy said, lying far easier than he expected; it was a very believable lie, and only really half a lie, from the scientifically minded Billy, "I apologize."

Jason waved it off, dismissing the issue and believing the lie. "Don't worry about it; you got here, you're safe, that's all that matters. Did you fix my communicator yet by the way?"

"I have not found the fault yet but I should be able to get it to you soon," Billy said rubbing his head.

"Don't worry about it," said Jason shaking his head, "No hurry; Rita seems to be taking a break so so should we. Anyway we should eat; we were waiting on you before we would."

An embarrassed blush covered Billy's face and he murmured an apology to which he got another dismissal of blame; they understood how it could be with him. Science was his first love and he couldn't help getting caught up in it, even if he wasn't actually caught up with it.

His repentance though was to go buy the food for the group, a reasonable thing to his mind and one he agreed to without complaint. It was only right after all, after leaving them to worry over him.

The genius started off to find the hot dog vendor who normally wandered the park in search of patrons. His mind was on whether or not Bulk and Skull would be there, wondering if they already paid off their debt from last time, when he noticed someone come up beside him. He knew of course that it was likely one of his friends, come to join him and keep him company, but he didn't realize who until they spoke, "So an experiment?"

"Affirmative." That came out, he realized after it left him, a bit too curtly. He did not mean it to sound so short honestly, Billy didn't want to be rude, but he sometimes found it hard not to be a bit stiff with Tommy.

It had been over two months since the incident that brought the other teenager into their lives, when he became the Green Ranger, and Billy wondered sometimes if he was the only one still unsure about it. Rita Repulsa had tried to fight fire with fire, Ranger with Ranger, and in the process dragged the new student Tommy into her darkness. And though they broke the spell, and every logical part of his brain told him that Tommy was not really to blame, he did everything under her power, it was hard to change that every time he looked at Tommy he remembered the fear that filled his chest when they found Zordon gone. The work he put into fixing Alpha Five their robot friend. The time he spent on trying to bring the command center back online, to bring back their mentor and find out why and how. Tommy was not to blame, he knew this, and he tried to trust in him like Jason and the others did, to treat him as a friend like Jason and the others did, but something kept him at arms length, always a bit too unwilling.

Even now, as they walked, looking for the stand together, Billy felt that uncomfortable feeling bubble up again. Whether Tommy noticed it or not was unclear, Billy hoped not; the green clad teen smiled at his would-be friend and continued, "What on, though I guess I probably won't understand, techno speak and all."

He was trying, he seemed to be actually trying to be friendly; Billy tried too, smiling some, making up a quick lie, "The density and mass requirements of a set of test projectiles in specific atmospheric and environmental situations to cause a varying grade of impact upon a surface."

"Okay," Tommy said and laughed a bit.

Billy did not understand why people laughed after he explained things to them, reasoning perhaps it was their way of trying to process the information he gives. It didn't really bother him, just a bit confusing.

There was silence for a moment after, the two just walking before once again Tommy spoke first, "Hey Billy?"

"Yes Tommy?" He answered glancing over.

"I...i know we're not the best of friends," he started, making Billy feel a bit bad, "I just arrived in town a few months ago after all and then there was that stuff with Rita..."

"Don't concern yourself with that," Billy said, shaking his head, "It was not your fault."

Tommy nodded but his expression didn't change, looking bothered still. Billy looked him, reasoning that couldn't be all Tommy wanted to say. It seemed off to be everything.

"Anyway," Tommy indeed continued and rubbed his head, "I was wondering if I could get your help with something."

"Yes?"

"I'm a bit behind since I transferred so late and I was hoping, if you don't mind, you could help me get caught up?" So basically help with schoolwork; it seemed logical to Billy. Though none of the Rangers were slackers, all pretty much good students, Billy was the best. At schoolwork or things of an academic and scientific nature at least. Coming to him made sense, especially when he already tutored people anyway.

Billy took a moment to think over it and then nodded, deciding it was fine. Might help him get over some of the residual bad feeling he had. "Alright then Tommy, I would be glad to assist you."

"Really?" Tommy said seeming happy, "Awesome."

Billy nodded once more. "How about tomorrow, you can come to my house around one and I can see what areas of study you need the most assistance in."

"Sounds great," the green ranger said and smiled at Billy, "Thanks Billy."

Billy wanted to say it was nothing, that Tommy didn't need to thank him, but in that moment they found the vendor and Tommy ran on ahead to start ordering for the group. Billy was left following behind, watching their newest friend and thinking to himself about his agreement. Something felt weird about it but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Shrugging a bit Billy sped up his own approach to join Tommy at the vendor; he could worry about it, whatever it was, later.

About an hour later found the two boys, and the rest of their friends, relaxing on the grass in the park; their admittedly unhealthy lunch of hot dogs and chips was long since consumed and the group was just relaxing for a bit, enjoying a nice day for being nice and not moving. Tommy sat by Kim and not so secretly there seemed to be some wish in them both to be even closer; Billy had of course noticed it before, back when they first met Tommy. Love at first sight, a strange occurrence and one he thought of as perhaps no more than fairy tales, or something much less admittedly sweet as what sat before him. Kimberly had liked him since the moment she saw him and Tommy seemed to feel the same yet two months later there were mostly just stolen looks and occasional touches that led nowhere.

Of course they were not the only ones; this thinking of love and affection made him think of the others. Zack had found a girl for he seemed completely smitten with though the progress of that had been slowed by her utter disinterest and seeming disgust for Zack. It was really sad to watch, mostly for how much he truthfully seemed to care for her but Billy knew sooner or later either she'd like him for who he was or his dancing friend would find another to give his heart to. With Jason and Trini it seemed to him as if the other two didn't really care for their own love lives, if they had one at all, encouraging the others; they always seemed to be pushing the others along, whether it was teasing Zack, nudging Tommy and Kim closer or even trying to get Billy to at least try to associate with more girls. Somehow Billy doubted the others really noticed, wrapped up in their own things but then again observing and analyzing was what he did best; when the others practiced their martial arts and gymnastics, he sat back and people watched. He by far did not understand everything and everyone but he liked to think he understood his friends.

Then, of course, was himself. But he always stopped himself before starting on self-analysis; that could only lead to trouble. He could find something in him he never wanted to, or worse yet be wrong. He preferred others to introspective, much simpler and that was saying something.

But maybe that was why he was alone; Kim and Tommy and Trini and Jason and Zack, they were all either not interested or actively pursuing. It wasn't that they weren't attractive enough. Honestly though he doubted he really was the kind girls might want, and after Marge...

He shook his head and someone spoke, "What's on your mind, Bill?"

Billy looked over to see Zack looking at him, leaned forward slightly with his arms on his knees. The others it turned out were staring at him too and he found himself unexpectedly, and mostly unwantedly, the center of attention.

He did not wish to share and smiled some. "Nothing of importance I assure you. Just the normal."

"Science stuff?" Zack asked laughing a bit.

Billy continued to smile and nod, watching as that seemed to reassure Zack and Trini. Tommy and Jason exchanged a look but ultimately seemed to just decide to believe him; only Kim continued to look unconvinced for a moment, something Billy both expected and was a bit concerned about. His friends were all perceptive, maybe it had to do with being a Ranger, maybe that was why they got chosen, but either way they noticed things. Though Billy could reassure them he had no doubt part of them was still curious and wasn't really fooled, and of them, when to came to him especially, Kimberly Hart was not easy to fool. And it wasn't because she was the Pink Ranger, heart of their team, and it wasn't because she was always so caring and kind; it was because she alone had known his mind, body switched by a fault in an experiment, and she could read him now. She could see past the lies, at least most of the time; he was pretty sure his half lie got past her but then again, maybe not. Kim was perhaps the trickiest of all.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile and Tommy said something to her, Billy wasn't really listening but it pulled her attention and quickly enough he found himself no longer of as much interest as the attractive Green Ranger. A blessing, he supposed, and he could have sworn he saw Tommy glance over with a small smile at him. But if so it was gone in the blink of an eye and like this was how the six rangers continued for a little longer.

Before going their separate ways, to go home, go train, to do whatever they did when they were individuals instead of part of the whole, they decided to have one more game. Maybe it was because Billy came in late to their last one, maybe it was because it was just such a beautiful day and it would be a pity not to enjoy it more, but quickly enough they found themselves involved in another round of Frisbee, running around and jumping to try and catch the elusive disc. It wasn't terribly strenuous, exactly how Billy liked it; he was getting better and he had already learn some helpful stuff when it came to fighting, both from Jason and from Trini's uncle Howard, but still he wasn't terribly big on physical exercise and wasn't, in his opinion at least, really all that built for it.

Case in point of the group he seemed to be the only one really managing to fail at catching the Frisbee, more than once having to chase it down as it ran from him. His friends didn't seem to mind at all, they never did; the others always encouraged him, always pushed him forward and didn't judge him. He was glad for them, having them as his friends, but he couldn't help but notice the difference between them, a valley of skill that, as he jumped up and caught the Frisbee, throwing it back, had him thinking yet again about his real worth as a ranger. He tried not to dwell on it, tried to push it from his mind, focusing on his friends, on playing and having fun with them.

He found himself laughing some, smiling as the Frisbee flew towards Jason and Zack and in true comedic two stooges fashion the dancer and the martial artist both tried to grab for it only to collide and stumble away, letting it escape. Trini bit back her own laughter and Kim put a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles; Tommy smirked and shook his head as the black and red rangers recovered from their accidental head-butt. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, just spinning from smacking my poor head against that rock Jason calls a skull," Zack said a little dramatically.

"Dude, if my head's a rock, yours is definitely some kind of super rock; twice the density and twice the pain," Jason replied, rubbing his head.

"There is actually no solid categorized as a 'super rock'," Billy interjected, still smiling, "Though diamond is considered the hardest geological mineral and would thus be harder than common slate or quartz."

"So you're saying my head is a diamond." There was a second of contemplation on the idea of Zack's head being made of diamond before everyone started laughing again. The Frisbee lay forgotten a few feet away as the game was abandoned in favor at trying to imagine the Black Ranger's head being a big diamond. It was pretty comical, or maybe they were just a bit hyperactive.

Jason grabbed the Frisbee and the group ended up saying their goodbyes for the day with that last image. Tommy walked Kim home, perhaps as part of an attempt to get some alone time, and Jason did the same with Trini; Zack was still chuckling as he walked off, leaving Billy alone. The genius sighed a bit before starting his own trek home; his mind started moving again, settling down from the silly moment and returning to other things.

His trepidation about Tommy coming over to study the next day was high on his list. He supposed it was that he was uncomfortable with him, though part of this was to help with that, but it felt like it was more than that. Much more.

His mind moved onto issue two, Tsuki at his house, and the click came. He wasn't too sure how he could have forgotten about the winged girl currently convalescing in his guest room but it struck him, like a truck head on going eighty miles an hour, that her being there and Tommy coming over might become a problem.

If he was the swearing type he might have; instead he cursed his mind for forgetting such an important thing. Now to try and deal with it; how to at least try and keep down the damage that was likely to ensue? Tommy was sure to notice her and realize Billy had been, half, lying to his friends about what he had been up to last night and of course the Green Ranger had no reason to keep Billy's secret. They barely knew each other after all. Billy supposed he could at least try to keep her hidden; if he did as he usually did with tutoring, restricting it mostly to the garage area, and Tsuki being injured stayed just to her room, then it was possible but unlikely; Tommy would be suspicious if Billy forbid him to enter the rest of the house and if he was anything like Jason, which they both knew he was, he'd probably go exploring anyway out of curiosity. Confining Tsuki herself shouldn't be too hard considering it seemed last night at least she couldn't move easily with her wing hurt so it all came down to how to keep Tommy from stumbling upon the strange guest in Billy's house.

Nothing had really come to him by the time he got back to his home; the best he had was not letting Tommy out of his sight and keep Tsuki quiet in the guest room, hopefully without making her feel bad for even being there. He didn't really want to do that.

He opened the front door and noticed first the strange noises; they seemed, after a moment of thought, to be originating from the kitchen. His mind skipped to a whole menagerie of ideas of what was going on but of course, walking into said kitchen, Occam's Razor came into play.

Tsuki was standing before one counter top, her injured wing somehow folded in enough to fit in the room; she didn't seem to notice him yet and was instead humming as she continued what she was doing. He stopped for a moment to watch, stare in confusion before shaking his head to try and clear it and speak, "Tsuki?"

She jumped and her wing ruffled, looking ready to unfold violently but it appeared she maintained enough control to keep from doing so; she did turn though, eyes wide as she looked at him, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In her hand was a spatula and just beyond her on the counter Billy could now make out the bowl full of something that apparently she had been stirring. She blinked. "Billy!"

"Tsuki, what are you doing?" he asked, furrowing his brow as he walked over, "Should you be moving about? How is your injury? How did you extract yourself from the room with your appendage expanded as it is?"

"Oh um," she said and bit her lip, looking away and at the bowl, "Well I was bored and hungry and you were gone and I thought maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe...it would be nice...if I made you something?" she said giving a weak sort of smile, obviously hoping it would turn out as something good in his mind too and not a nusiance. The weakness betrayed her own fears, an insecurity that honestly touched him and once more he found himself assured, even just to himself, that there was no way she could be a monster.

He smiled back at her after a moment, a way to tell her that no, it was not bad, and he looked to the bowl and it's unknown form within. "What is it then?"

"Oh cookies," she said and her smile grew some, her feathers fluttering again as she spoke, "I don't know why but they were the first thing that came to mind."

"Cookies." Billy had as much of a sweet tooth as anyone honestly and he found himself wondering when last it was that he had had home baked cookies. A closer look told him little of what kind; he didn't bake or cook, his last attempt causing Kim to scold him greatly, admittedly for failing so badly while pretending to be her. Still it made him chuckle a little and feel warmed at her consideration.

"Can you effectively maneuver to operate the oven?" With her wing the way it was it had to be difficult to move about, not to mention bend down enough to be able to put cookies into the oven. It occurred to him she still had not answered his inquiry on how he got out of the room.

She thought for a moment, tilting her head. "I don't know. I mean it was not too difficult getting out here; my wing isn't in such a bad state that I can't move it about so I just moved it so I could get through the door and hallway to here. But I will admit that it may be difficult to actually put these into the oven..."

Tsuki looked disappointed and her wings even seemed to droop some. Billy couldn't resist feeling a bit bad about it and tried to cheer her up some. "No worries, Tsuki. How about you work on the creation of formation of the baked confectioneries and I will assist you by handling the actual transportation and placement into the heating receptacle?"

She blinked at him again but livened up quickly enough and smiled, nodding. "Sure Billy, thanks~"

He smiled in return and watched as she returned to stirring; he was fascinated honestly, he always was in this sort of situation. He could barely handle sandwiches, and while he could create new complex chemical bonds, he could build a car that could fly, he could make a machine that could switch minds, he couldn't get how to make cookies properly, how to put together a casserole, to cook. But she seemed able to; she hummed again and he had a sensation come over him, like an old memory. Someone else standing in that kitchen and cooking and it filled him with nostalgia, and sadness. He felt sad remembering and he tried not to look away, his eyes tracking as Tsuki grabbed a spoon and started to spoon out balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, carefully placing each, methodical, perfect. And she looked up at him, red and blue meeting again before she smiled and spoke, "First batch ready for the oven."

He blinked, taking a second to remember what he had promised only seconds before then nodded, grabbing the sheet carefully and opening the oven with one hand, glad to find it already preheated. All he need do was put it in and closing the door after he stood up straight again to look at her, finding her smiling at him, watching him too. Tommy crossed his mind again, and what was to happen the next day, and he wondered if this was really going to be okay and what to do and whether it would be better to hide her or not, to hope to keep Tommy to one area of the house or trap Tsuki in her room instead. He felt conflicted and worried and here she was making him cookies while he was thinking of forcing her to stay in one room for what would be likely more than a few hours.

"I apologize for leaving you to awaken from your slumber alone," he spoke finally, not on what he really wanted to but on something that did also minorly worry him; she had to have felt confused, awakening in the strange place without him.

Tsuki looked concerned for a moment then shook her head, smiling; her wings fluttered again as she spoke, "It's alright Billy, you left me a note after all so I wasn't too worried about you. I'm just thankful for your help last night; I never could have gotten anywhere on my own in as much pain as I was."

He smiled in relief. "Good to hear. Not that you were incapable of solitary movement without assistance, rather that I am relieved to know you were not concerned or frightened."

"Of course, I trusted you to do what you thought was right after all," Tsuki told him and smiled brightly at him.

Guilt stabbed at his heart and he furrowed his brow. "Right...what I thought was right..."

"Billy?" She noticed the strangeness in his response and her expression turned concerned, not for herself but him; she was worried about him. How sweet.

"Um...I do believe that we are in need of a talk, Tsuki." He walked over to the dining room table, taking a seat and waiting for her to do the same.

The winged girl tilted her head again then followed, struggling slightly but finally managing to sit with her wings still partially unfolded. Billy took a deep breath, deciding he should; he had to tell her, to try and get her to understand his mistake and maybe, just maybe, get some advice on what to do next. After all he realized, even if she did trust him to make the right choice, he was not so certain in his own being. And a little advice goes a long way.


End file.
